Speaking from first hand experience,
I go to this gym in Bethesda, MD.
Very well equipped, including a pool.
You go there early morning
and you find half the people there a middle aged.
Fit bodies juxtaposed with natural signs of age-ing.
If you correlate facial expressions with age,
you will find a noticeable correlation between age and seriousness.
The point of going to a gym is to enjoy the process of replenishing your muscular strength. If you take that too seriously, that points to age-related associations you've developed that do not belong in the gym. The best way to learn about this is to consult an experienced trainer. All trainers in private gyms are in the peak of their fitness years and hence better qualified to determine what is best for you.
A good trainer is basically there to evaluate and fix problems. Programs are pretty much the same for each particular goal, available for free on the internet. Want to ‘get in shape’? Great. Get your HR above 120 for an hour every day. Doesn’t matter how. Snatch stuck at body weight and you want to get to 1.5? Okay, go see a trainer.
But you need one anyway. Source: human.
Most people do absolutely nothing of value in the gym. They’d be healthier using the time to get more sleep. Enter the trainer. Something about a human telling you what to do is comforting and allows you to put your brain away and just do it. People that train with a trainer will see results. People that don’t, might. A trainer is required to be the best in any sport. Lots of people that are pretty good don’t use one. But if you’re at the bottom of the pile in where you want to be, get a trainer.
> I never got any of that pounding on the treadmill or struggling to lift 16kg dumb bells
I think that's what was meant by "Most people do absolutely nothing of value in the gym."
There's a little bit more to it than that. I retained training services for the first few years I did triathlon simply because I didn't know anything about it. (What are these heart-rate training zones? What strength exercises are useful to triathlon? What are base/build/peak/transition stages? What are the correct biomechanics for strength exercise? etc., etc.) In the end I ended up reading a lot of books and pieced enough together that I construct my own training plans and do my own strength training - correctly - now.
At my first triathlon it was quite apparent that 80% of the participants hadn't done any of this. These days I'll see someone "pounding on the treadmill [or pavement]" or flailing through the water or riding their bike with a seat that's way too low or doing basic strength exercises incorrectly and realize that - indeed - all that time spent exercising is mostly wasted:
a) Pounding on the treadmill/pavement - usually too low a stride rate and/or incorrect running mechanics will lead to joint problems / repetitive stress injury in short order;
b) Flailing through the water - hello shoulder surgery! Form is 10x as important as strength in the water. I've seen guys with well-developed lats struggle at 100 yards and skinny kids zip right by me.
c) Riding bike with seat too low will eventually lead to knee and possibly back problems. Get a bike fit.
d) Strength exercise is useless unless you are correctly activating the right muscles in the correct order. Worst I've ever seen: GHD machine being used with hip flexion range of 45 to -15 degrees. Ouch.
It is possible to get value out of a gym membership but mechanics are really important.
